Family Matters Chair Natalie Lewis calls for your support

SNAICC has been working with our partners on a campaign to end over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care: Family Matters – Strong communities. Strong culture. Stronger children. We know that the crisis of child protection intervention continues to have devastating impact on our children, families and communities across the country. Despite answers resting in healing and supporting our families to provide safe and loving care for children, we still see prevention and early intervention efforts too little and too late.

We need your support in driving the campaign forward in three critical ways: to become part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership group that will drive the campaign in the next phase; to provide financial support to enable employment of a campaign manager and build the key recommendations in the Family Matters Report 2018 into your advocacy strategy, submissions, key messages and other activities.

On 3 and 4 October 2018, the national Family Matters Campaign’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership group and Steering Committee met to reflect on the campaign both nationally and at the state and territory level; re-examine campaign goals, strategies and governance; and set priorities going forward.

At the October meetings, it was decided that the Family Matters Campaign requires renewed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership to ensure campaign authenticity and the range of skills to truly effect change, as well as updated priorities to reflect progress made to date and the current political context.

Call for expressions of interest to join our campaign leadership

We are looking for passionate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, including young and emerging leaders from across the country, with expertise across the areas necessary to run an effective campaign. This includes expertise in child safety, wellbeing and development, campaigning, media engagement, coalition building, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community engagement, policy development, advocacy and effecting systems change. Recognising that leadership exists at multiple levels and in different forms outside of an organisational context, members of the leadership group do not need to be chief executive officers or chairpersons of boards.

When indicating your interest, please briefly outline why you would like to be a part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group and how you believe that your skills and expertise can help drive the campaign.

Submissions are required by Wednesday 30 January 2019.

Call for your financial support

In addition to refocusing our campaign priorities and renewing the campaign leadership, we are pleased to announce that we have managed to secure funding in the last few months, including $150,000 over three years for the Family Matters report from the Australian Community Foundation.

However, in order to employ a campaign manager to drive campaign activities across Australia, we need to raise a further $120,000. We need your support to do this.

Call for your advocacy support

In addition, we need your support with advocating for the implementation of the campaign’s key asks. You can do this by sharing the key findings and recommendations of the Family Matters Report 2018 with your networks and building these recommendations into your organisation’s advocacy strategy, submissions, key messages and other activities.

Finally, you can also support us by signing our statement of commitment and pledging to work in ways that promote the Family Matters principles.